'BOREALIS RISING' - A Subnautica Story V2.0.

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Swivelling around in the command chair, I quickly addressed the passengers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. In case you're wondering what's happening outside, we are currently under attack. A large swarm of Crabsquids has gathered in this cavern, apparently Hell-bent on doing us some mischief. However, you may rest assured that we have this situation well under control. As some of you may find this distressing, all external video feeds have been temporarily suspended. Please remain calm. Thank you."

There was an agitated buzz of conversation throughout the passenger bay. From somewhere aft, a woman's voice yelled, "Leave the cameras on! We want to watch this!" Other voices raised in a hubbub of assent. What else can I do? - The People have spoken.

Red Dragon ploughed the field with a burst from its TRIDENT array, scattering a horde of Crabsquids that were massing for a frontal attack. Those that weren't immediately knocked senseless by the sonar pulse scurried up the cavern walls and rushed straight toward Exodus. IANTO swung Red Dragon about in its own length, heading after them. Taranis popped up fifty metres astern of Exodus, her bow repulsion cannons hammering into the Crabsquids that were now falling as a slow rain all around us. All six turrets aboard Exodus opened fire simultaneously, picking them off as they fell.

Even with JUNO and DIGBY blasting away at a phenomenal rate, a few were able to evade the barrage and managed to land on Exodus' upper hull. These Crabsquids knew precisely how to cripple the sub, and promptly proceeded to attack our thruster nacelles. They were reasonably well-armoured, but it wouldn't take long before their boarding party hit something critical. As soon as I heard their spindly legs tick-tacking about on our hull, I dialled the EDF up to 2000 joules and let it rip. The field discharged with a heavy whoomp, sending the attackers flying in all directions. Immediately, an alarm blared. Exodus veered sharply to starboard, but I caught her just in time.

"Hell! We've lost the starboard lateral thruster... Looks like one got ingested and it's wrecked the bloody turbines! DIGBY! We need some additional top cover pronto... Bring in the troops!"

Taranis surged forward to take point, opening her belly doors as she roared overhead. All four ExoSuits ejected sequentially and landed gently on the stricken sub, immediately snapping into combat posture and opening fire in all directions. The pair of Ripleys riding aboard Taranis detached from their outer hull clamps a few seconds later, powering forward to take up defensive positions on either side of Exodus. Red Dragon screeched past barely 20 metres beneath our keel, her repulsion cannons pounding away at the Crabsquids milling about on our underside.

Absolute pandemonium reigned aboard Exodus. Apart from an occasional shriek of terror, the passenger bay rang with jubilant whoops every time our cannons scored a direct hit. People were literally bouncing in their seats and punching the air with exultation. All set to a boppy Calypso beat.

It is a simple writing tactic that keeps the reader hooked by wanting to wait so desperately for more. He is not going to stop lol. I hate it too, but its been a key tactic he has used throughout the series, and it has worked.

Weird that the Crabsquids are breaking the Sea Emperor's promise to let the survivors go unharmed. Either the Emperor changed his mind for whatever reason or the Crabsquids don't hold their creator in high esteem like the Warpers do. I wonder if they'll show up and help. Or maybe Selkirk will find a way of communicating with the Crabsquids.

According to the tactical display, the Crabsquids were well and truly on the run. The way ahead was now mostly clear, although what few remained in our path had already felt the full measure of our displeasure earlier on. A faceful of TRIDENT is enough to knock the fight out of all but the most heavily-armoured opponent, and there wasn't a whole lot of body to our little pals out there. The TRIDENT pulses had been scaled down to 1.5 per cent yield on purpose. Otherwise, we'd be cruising through a haze of bloody chum right now. That would have been a bit of a P.R faux pas on our part.

The sheer magnitude of this attack is a real puzzle. As I've said before, Crabsquids are a stroppy lot at best, so it doesn't take very much to cheese them off. Stranger still, I saw a grand total of four Crabsquids while passing through this same area less than an hour ago, so where in Hell's name did this horde come from? More to the point, what caused them to swarm us without provocation?

I think it might be time to have another wee natter with the Warpers. There's far too much weird stuff happening down here lately, and now I'm not entirely convinced that The Father of Tides is playing by the same rules that He expects us to abide by. It's not just a matter of me and the crew anymore. Once these colonists start moving about on their own, I can't be expected to sit on my hands while Manannán's sea life treats them like a scot-free smörgåsbord. Sooner or later, they're going to be sick of having their characters re-rolled by the Valkyrie Field, and shots will be fired. Count on it.

One hundred metres ahead, I could see the first glimmers of daylight at the cavern's mouth. Taranis came about and streaked overhead, making one final dust-off run on any stragglers that might still be sneaking up on us. With one thruster already trashed, Exodus can only make fifteen knots. If the Crabsquids figure out that another five kamikaze attacks will leave us dead in the water, it's going to make the rest of this trip pretty miserable for all concerned. Getting a tow back to Kaori-san no-shima isn't a huge problem. Docking safely once we reach there is. At a pinch, I suppose I could call the Ripleys in to lend a hand, but they're not exactly what you'd call precision tools. Fortunately, we still had sufficient control over Exodus to dock with relative ease.

I keyed on the comms console. "IANTO, DIGBY... How's it going back there, chaps?"

"Almost done, Captain. The Crabsquids are retreating en masse into the lower cavern complex. There's no point in pursuing them any farther, since they have ceased exhibiting any outward signs of aggression. To be precise Sir, they are most definitely retreating." IANTO said.

"Confirmed, Sir. What are your orders?" DIGBY added.

"Remain on station until Exodus reaches open water. Rejoin formation as soon as you are able."

Open water and full sunlight at last. Our passengers were still whooping and cheering fit to raise the roof. I conjure now's a good time to mellow their mood a little, especially since we're going to have our hands full offloading this mob in about ten minutes' time.

"Audio: John Denver. Track: Calypso." A fitting piece of music for The Big Reveal.

Thankfully, the area surrounding Kaori-san no-shima is comparatively benign by Manannán's standards, and played the game nicely for a change. Exodus rose through shimmering water, crystal clear and benevolent. A Reefback pod greeted our arrival with their mournful hailing calls, and I replied with a long blast on Exodus' horn. A few of the passengers froze in alarm, at least until I rotated one of the hull cameras.